I Like It
by fezakyuu
Summary: A series of cute one-shots about what certain situations Ace likes when he's with Luffy.
1. We Sleep Together

I Like It When.

This is just a series of cute, fluffy one-shots based on what Ace likes to do when he's with Luffy. For now, the stories will be based on their younger ages (Luffy being seven, Ace being ten) and will gradually move up ages as I think of more sexual and graphic things for them to do. You're welcome to submit ideas for stories as well as long as the primary focus is something Ace likes to do with Luffy.

**Also, all ****stories are from Ace's POV.**  
>Enjoy :P<p>

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><p><em><strong>...We Sleep Together<strong>_

After long days of being out playing in the fields, hunting dangerous animals in the forests and rummaging for treasure in Gray Terminal, nothing sounds better than bedtime.

I always looked forward to bed time; it was peaceful, quiet and absolute bliss. After spending the entire day listening to your little brother scream, shout, laugh and even cry... pure silence was always enjoyable. But even if the silence was enjoyable, it was always scary in a way, not hearing your little brother make insane noises and crying over menial things, it was troubling.

After dinner, myself and Luffy would share a bath together, and get ready for bed. I was always first back into our bedroom, Luffy usually spent a couple of minutes upsetting Dadan over something, which led her to carrying him to our room and screaming "Go to sleep, brats!" The tone never affected Luffy; he would simply laugh and roll around on the floor, eventually making his way over to me.

When Luffy first started staying with us, I was weary of him… it was pretty obvious I hated him and even I can't really explain why. To this day he annoys the hell out of me, but never the less he's someone I want to protect and someone who I cherish dearly; he's definitely my little brother.

At first we slept separately, even when we were okay with each other and called each other friends. But after we fostered each other as brothers, things changed, I suppose I opened myself up more to him and allowed him to get a little closer to me than I would usually allow. Not only that, but Sabo's recent death has made me somewhat worried… Luffy is completely fine during the day but I'm sure he has problems sleeping at night; I don't want him to feel guilty over Sabo's death.

I want him to feel safe and well-protected at night, so that he can dream pleasantly. We sleep on separate futons, no matter how close we are, but every so often I wake up in the morning to find that he's pushed his futon up against mine and he's sleeping so close to me that it's almost hard to breathe. But to be honest, as long as he's happy and safe, I'd gladly stop breathing.

I don't find it weird or even taboo that we share such a close brotherly bond, it does border on the insane from time to time, like when he tries to kiss my forehead or when he hugs me intimately, but he doesn't know any better, he's still pretty innocent-minded.

Dadan would say goodnight to us in a pretty harsh way as always and close the door. At that point I was ready to fall asleep, but Luffy was still really active, even after a busy day. I'd try to ignore him and face away from him so that he'd take the hint and fall asleep, but he'd try and get me to interact with him in any way possible.

Ten or so minutes later and he'd still be as active as ever, how Dadan hadn't come in yet was incredible because his volume was turned all the way up. I'd get out of bed, crawl over to him and tickle him senseless, trying to get rid of his excess energy. Of course, I was having fun too, I wouldn't deny that and it made him happy, which is what I wanted at the end of the day. "Hurry up and fall asleep!" I'd say after shaking him continuously and pulling on his face.

After a couple more minutes, he would finally settle down and curl up underneath the covers of his futon. With that over, I was finally able to fall asleep in peace.

_**A few hours later….**_

I fall out of my deep sleep and crack my eyes open slightly, it's the first time I've ever awoke to see that Luffy hasn't pushed his futon over to mine yet. When I hear him mumbling and groaning, I force my eyes open and sit up.

I could see that he was having a nightmare, he had moved so much in his sleep that his cover was down by his feet, his face was beet-red and somewhat swollen and his hair was messy and wringing with sweat.

I'd sit and watch him quietly for a couple of minutes to see if he'd calm down… but it didn't seem likely. He continued to squirm and wriggle about, his breathing was heavy and uneasy and it really made me panic… I couldn't believe that he was actually suffering in his sleep.

When Luffy sat up in a fright I quickly lay back down and pretended to be asleep, seeing what he would do next. I cracked open one of my eyes and watched him wipe away the sweat from his forehead and comb his hair back. He looked half-conscious himself, but at the same time he seemed frightened and scared, he remained sat up for a few more minutes, trying to calm himself down.

I could see him turning to look at me slowly, I was able to close my eye in time and look naturally asleep. I then felt his hand shaking me awake, I opened my eyes slightly and looked up at him, as per usual, he looked like he was about to cry. I sat up and asked "What's up cry-baby?" just to tease him a little, but his lips didn't budge, he remained silent. "So what is it?"I asked again, a little more caringly.

He sniffled, a lot, but he was able to mumble out "c-c-can I slu-sleep nu-next to y-y-you?" I rolled my eyes and pulled his futon over with him still on it.

"Happy?" I said and lay back down, he was finally able to smile and he lay down on his futon which was now right next to mine. I felt a little more at ease now that he was happy and I was able to close my eyes.

It didn't end there however, Luffy remained in his restless state for quite a while, he continued to toss and turn and it really worried me to pieces. It wasn't exactly abnormal for him, it was Luffy, he was a cry-baby who worried over the simplest things, the death of his foster-brother must have been tearing him apart, considering Sabo was so much nicer and friendlier to him…

I'm only mean to him because he gets on my nerves… and he worries me. I can't help but be protective over him; I just can't easily express caring emotions as he can… I've been through quite a lot of trouble in the past and I've basically learned not to accept people so easily, but Luffy is certainly an exception.

I opened my eyes to see what he was doing and as I thought, he was still tossing and turning and keeping me awake. On a whim, I pulled him next to me and wrapped my arms around his waist and gently whispered "Go to sleep." I had no idea what I was thinking, but it seemed to have worked perfectly, he was sound asleep within moments and although I wasn't used to this sort of thing, I felt comforted as well and easily found myself falling asleep.

This was the first time we had huddled together in bed I can definitely see it happening again and again and again.

_**That morning…**_

"How did it come to this?" … I awoke this morning to find Luffy was not only still huddled close to me, but his arms were wrapped around me instead, he was squeezing every last inch of air out of my chest and even more incredibly he was between my legs and using my stomach as a pillow.

I could only roll my eyes and return his affection by wrapping my arms around him. It may be a little early to say this but I like it when we sleep together…


	2. I Carry You On My Back

… _I Carry You On My Back  
><em>

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><p>I've never really given it much thought in the past, at times it's been a really handy resource, I know that for a fact when Luffy is injured or unconscious I need to carry him on my back. I see fathers carrying their sons and daughters on their shoulders walking through the village all the time and they always seemed to enjoy it. I just couldn't put my finger on it? Why is it such an enjoyable thing?<p>

"We need some supplies, make yourselves useful and go down to the village to get them – Talk to Makino, she knows what we need" Dadan told us this morning.

So here we are… walking through the woods of Mt. Corvo, hardly even half way there and Luffy is already giving me a hard time.

"Carry me! Carry me!" He continuously shouted down my ear.

"Why?"

He stopped me in my tracks and smiled cheekily "Being carried by Ace is the best!"

All I could do was blush and look away… it's not like he could remember any of the times he's been carried, he's always unconscious!

"Your face is red… are you embarrassed?" He grinned… god I hated it when he got to me like that. I shook my head violently and walked on.

"No." I replied. "Besides, you've got enough physical energy to run up and down this mountain a million times, why on earth would you want me to carry you?"

He ran up beside me and tugged on my arm "Because its fun, I love being carried by you. It makes me feel special and happy..."

Again, I blushed... I had no idea what was making me feel so… uncomfortable? No, it was something else… I suppose I was taking pride in the fact that my little brother enjoyed being carried by me so much as to go on about it for so long.

I guess I've figured it out, it makes you feel special, to be carried by someone who cares for you deeply.

I wasn't really sure why I was giving into him… but if it would keep him happy, and quiet, carrying him wouldn't be so bad. I lowered myself and just seeing his face light up was pretty satisfying. He jumped onto my back, putting me slightly off balance with the force.

"Happy now?" I said as I looked over my shoulder to see him grinning and nodding his head furiously as a reply. I sighed and walked on.

As I listened to him laugh, play and wriggle about on my back, I just couldn't stop smiling… I felt happier knowing that Luffy was within my reach and with that I could protect him from anything.

I fell in and out of thought, each time I listened to Luffy telling his bogus stories about how he's become stronger or how his powers have evolved. I smiled each time, no matter how irritating or phoney his stories were.

"Quit wriggling around so much… I can't hold you securely like this..." I strengthened my hold on his legs and pulled him higher up my back, he ended up resting his head on my shoulder.

"You tired or something?" I continued walking and waited for him to reply, come to think of it… he had been quiet for some time now.

I turned my head only to find that he'd actually decided to have a nap… I'd seriously kill him if I wasn't so fond of him.

Never the less… I honestly like it when I can carry you on my back.


	3. You Hold My Hand

…_You Hold My Hand  
>(Continuation of previous chapter)<br>_

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><p>It's a rarity, but when it happens it makes you smile… you can do nothing but smile, it's a perfect portrayal of a relationship between two brothers... or more specifically, Luffy seeking some comfort.<p>

We'd walked down to Windmill Village to pick up some stuff for Dadan, and to keep Luffy entertained I'd been, well… "forced" to carry him on my back. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, or even want it, it's just I was basically his walking bed, since he fell asleep after about ten minutes… I kinda thought he wanted to feel special; turns out he only wanted to sleep.

But now that we're in Windmill Village, I know he'll want to be up and on the move. As much as I just wanted to drop him to wake him, it would only upset him and make him cry and then we'd end up arguing and he would eventually run away from me and it would just make matters worse.

His head was still resting on my shoulder, so I gently nudged my shoulder and he momentarily woke up. "Finally" I said. "You slept through the entire journey"

He mumbled and dribbled a little onto my shoulder.. "ewww! What are you doing? Get up!" I was seriously contemplating dropping him… but when I looked at him, he looked so innocent and adorable; he was like the perfect prey for kidnappers.

"But I like being on Ace's back – can't I stay on just for a little longer?" He whined; I seriously hope he wouldn't start crying, with all these people walking around they'd blame me for making him cry – I don't want to have to deal with that sort of troubling situation.

"I have to carry a lot of the stuff we're picking up on my back"

He pouted "Boohoo…" And jumped off my back "Fine, but you owe me!"

"Whatever, come on let's just hurry up, I want to get back early so we can go out hunting" He ran on ahead of me and I was once again left alone to ponder to myself. He's such a crazy little brother, who gets worked up or excited over such little things, I can sort of understand why he wanted to sleep so close to me last night and now I can see what's so great about being carried on someone else's back… so he can sleep. But I don't understand what he wants, he's never really happy is he?

I mean I carried him all the way down here on my back, I didn't even disturb him whilst he was sleeping and last night, although it was a little strange I still let him sleep right next to me, I didn't even get worked up over him sleeping on top of me this morning… he still wants more from me.

Perhaps I'm not really acting like a brother should? He did say that Sabo was always nicer to him and treated him a lot better than I did, but I can't suddenly start being so openly caring… people would think I've gone crazy, I'm only mean to him because I worry so much, he's such a weakling and a big cry-baby.

Since we toasted to brotherhood, he's often mumbled that he doesn't really feel like my brother… he's said that we're still just friends and that everyone will always see us that way. I kind of understand how he feels, nobody has since called us brothers since we toasted, and we've told everyone in town, even all of the bandits know about it.

In a sense, it could be that he wants others to confirm our brotherhood, even if they just say something simple like "you two are so close, well that's brotherhood for you" or something daft like that, I already know we're brothers… once again, he's just being awkward.

"Ace! Ace! – I just thought of something we can do!"

I lightly shook my head and awoke from my thoughts. "What now?" I asked, Luffy was tugging on my arm and as I looked around we had reached Makino's bar. "We're here already?"

"Let's hold hands!" He cried.

"Hold hands?" I questioned. "I have to carry stuff with these hands" I added. Just what exactly was he up to?

"Yeah! I'll hold stuff with my spare hand and you can hold the other stuff with your spare hand – so can we?"

I rolled me eyes and thought about the idea for a second, it didn't seem like it would be such a problem and the thought of it happening was making Luffy happy, as for me… it was kinda embarrassing. "Fine" I said, with that he knotted his fingers between mine and held onto my hand, almost for dear life.

We walked inside the bar, which was unusually empty for this time of the day. We stopped halfway towards the bar and looked around for Makino, who wasn't in view for either of them.

"Where could she be?" I said "Makino!" I called out just after. A few moments later she cried "Yes?" and walked out from the kitchen and up to the bar.

"Oh! Hello boys!" She smiled at us warmly and prompted us to sit down. Even after sitting down, Luffy still had a hold of my hand; it made me wonder if things were going to be either awkward or difficult from now on.

I decided to try out some of my new-found manners that Makino herself had taught me. "Good Afternoon Makino-san – we've come to collect some items for Dadan. She said you would know what she wants…" I asked politely.

"My my, it looks like you've really taken to the manners I taught you!" She smiled "And yes, I'll go prepare them for you now. Will you be able to carry the stuff?"

"Of course we can! – We've gotten loads stronger and we can defeat anything that stands in our way!" Luffy replied, I was unsure as to whether he was offended by Makino's comment about us not being able to take all of the stuff back.. or if he was just being.. well, Luffy.

"We'll be fine Makino-san, do you mind serving us up some drinks though? If it's not too much trouble, we'll need some energy to help get us back up" I smiled.

"Sure! Just give us a mo and I'll serve you up something refreshing" She disappeared back into the kitchen and re-appeared a few minutes later carrying two glasses of fresh and cold orange juice. She placed them in front of us and watched us both consume the juice within moments.

"Thank you for the drink!" I said after finishing first, I had to prompt Luffy to say thanks after he had finished. Makino smiled at us, but she had an inquisitive expression on her face beforehand which made me question her.

"What was wrong before? – When we were drinking... you looked puzzled?" I asked.

"Well usually when you and Luffy are here together, and you both order a drink, you usually use the same hands don't you?"She questioned.

"Not usually, he just likes to copy me…"

"Well today he used his right hand didn't he? Has he finally outgrown copying you I wonder?"

"Huh?" I wondered myself but then as I looked down and saw that we were still holding hands and I figured that was probably why... but he actually broke copying me just so he could keep holding my hand? I will admit... that is pretty sweet.

I held up the hand in which I was holding Luffy's with and she seemed somewhat surprised. "Oh? What's this?"

"He wanted to hold my hand..." I replied.

Her mouth widened to a cheesy grin and she stared at us both lovingly "How adorable! As expected of close brothers… or lovers perhaps?" She chuckled.

Lovers? My cheeks blossomed a rosy red "Oh no we're just-"

"Lovers, lovers, lovers!" Luffy cheered, swinging his hand around along with mine… my cheeks literally shined so bright it lit up Makino's face in front of me.

"Do you even know what you're saying Luffy?" I screamed at him. "We're just brothers.. really, really close brothers."I said to Makino, she continuously seemed surprised, but her giggling lessened and she was finally able to give me a reply.

"I know, I know... I was just teasing. But still, you can see holding hands with someone in any number of ways. I only assumed that you might have been lovers because the way you've locked your fingers together is typical feat of a couple… it's quite a special way to hold hands"

This was just getting ridiculous now, how many ways can you hold hands with a person? It's true that the way we were holding hands was a little different than ways we had done in the past, but still… I can't believe Makino even said such a thing... I am never going to hear the end of this.

I leaned over the counter and asked Makino to come closer; I had something I wanted to whisper into her ear. "Please don't put ideas in his head!"

She pulled away and laughed "Oh alright" She paused to pick up the glasses "Anyway, I'll get the stuff ready for you, I'm sure you have other things you want to do today" She disappeared back into the kitchen and was gone for quite some time. Myself and Luffy sat in a somewhat uncomfortable silence, uncomfortable for me anyway… How could she suggest such a thing as lovers, if he remembers anything about this conversation I'm in for it.

How on earth could I explain what lovers are to him when I actually know so little myself. Besides, being lovers is for grown ups.. I have no interest in anything as such whilst I'm only ten years old… I want to spend my time training and preparing for my departure in seven years… jeez, just her bringing up such a thing has gotten my head in a spin.

I turned my head slightly and was pretty shocked to see Luffy's slightly disheartened face. "What's wrong now?" I asked.

"Wu-what's wrong with being lovers?" He asked me, I honestly didn't expect him to ask this early… I mean I thought he'd bring it up later on when we were definitely alone… what if Makino could still hear us? Could this situation be anymore embarrassing? I can clearly see that his other hand is clenched tight and he's looking down at his lap, if he's embarrassed about it then he at least knows the basis of what lovers are.

It was helpful that he wasn't looking at me, but I still couldn't hold back my blushing… I wasn't even sure what to say to him, obviously we weren't lovers and it was probably never going to happen… unless he became persistent later on in life.

"Why would you want to be lovers? Being brothers is way better and better suited to us" I replied.

He unexpectedly looked up at me; I looked back towards the kitchen quickly to avoid my obvious red-face being seen. "Yeah… but I heard about this thing called marriage and it apparently bonds the two people for life, that's part of being lovers isn't it? Why can't we do that? I want to be bonded with Ace forever and ever." He added.

I nearly chocked on air when he mentioned marriage… "Marriage? That's for grown ups, I'm only ten years old and your seven! People usually get married after they reach twenty years old…"

"But!-" Luffy was about to reply, but I cut him off. "Look, maybe someday we can try this 'lovers' thing, but for now we're brothers and that's that. Don't casually bring up marriage either when you know so little about it!" I randomly decided to hit him on the head, like I usually did… just to reinforce my seriousness.

He turned away and as per usual, he looked like he was about to cry, with his one free hand he held onto his straw hat and pulled it over his face. Which made me remember the fact that we were still holding hands and even after all this trouble I still didn't mind him holding my hand, no matter what people thought, I personally felt it personified our brotherhood and in a way it also proved my selfish desire of not wanting to let go of him, or to let anyone else take him away from me. No matter how stubborn I am, I'm still human and I still desire certain contact with others… that whole thing about being lovers in the future might be a possibility if things like holding hands and sleeping together are a regular occurrence. Of course I wasn't really sure why I said such a thing… even though I feel it might happen one day, at the moment I only said it just to shut him up... all I can do now is hope and pray he won't bring it up again.

Never the less, it wouldn't mean anything to him if I didn't voice my thoughts… Luffy is pretty dense as well so he'd never realize how I truly feel just from expressions and actions alone.

"I like it… when you hold my hand"

"Ru-really?" He looked up at me and smiled "I'll keep holding onto your hand then!" He cheered.

All I could do was smile… is it safe to say I love it when you hold my hand?


	4. We Bathe Together

_We Bathe Together…_

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><p>It always troubled me when you wouldn't bathe in the tub, not only could I not clean you properly because you were usually still dirty when you were drying yourself off, but I felt like I was leaving you out. Myself and Sabo always loved bath time and you could see how much fun we were having splashing each other and messing around.<p>

It's been a few weeks since Sabo died and bath time since then became an unpleasant experience for me, whilst I was sat in the tub in complete silence, you continued to wash yourself on the stool, still worrying about tipping that water over your head. I do remember coaxing you a few times to join me, but you thought something bad might happen. Not matter how much I reassured him that I would be _right _next to him, holding his head above the water and making sure he was okay, he still wouldn't join me. I knew he trusted me, but it was obvious that he couldn't yet put his life in my hands… which really hurt me to think about.

A few weeks on and it's the present day, we're only a couple of months older since Sabo's death and by now we've matured a little more. I told myself this would be the last time I'd ask him, if he wouldn't join me in the bath today, then I knew it was never going to happen. But today was going to be different, I had a little trick up my sleeve – I've only just realized after some lengthy amount of time that my little brother is gullible, he believes _anything._

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><p><em>"Ace! – A girl in town told me today that if you kiss someone on the lips, they get pregnant!"<em>

_I couldn't even reply, in fact I didn't want to reply. I pretty much understand the concept of love, sex and marriage. Even though I'm insanely young, I'm ridiculously mature for my age. How did I find out about all this? –Turn's out Sabo had already learnt all of this crap years before he told me, his parents wanted him to understand all of these concepts from such a young age so he'd grown to accept them and eventually feel that there was no way out of them. Even if I understood, I didn't want to sit hear talking to my seven year old brother about how the facts of life._

_"Yeah? Really?" I replied, I just thought that for now it would probably be best to go along with it._

_"So who would be pregnant?"_

_"The woman of course! You can't be that dense can you?"_

_"Yeah, but what if it was two boys kissing or two girls?"_

_I closed my eyes and rubbed the bridge of my nose… I still wasn't up for explaining the truth, so I just continued the lie. Hopefully in time he would understand all this himself; "The one who is stronger, so the kid has a better chance." That being said, I opened my eyes and looked at him, hoping he would leave the subject at that. I could see in his face that he was deliberating what I had just told him –he probably didn't even realize he was thinking._

_Luffy abruptly nodded and turned away… it was when he was quite a distance from me that I decided to ask him where he was going._

_"I'm gonna get stronger!"_

_Once again, my eyes shut and the fingers on my hand rubbed the bridge of my nose... "You have got to be kissin- er, I mean… kidding me!"_

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><p>That particular moment brought back some odd thoughts; it even sent a little shiver down my spine… I thought about what I was getting myself into, if I wasn't careful he'd end up asking loads of questions and all this careful consideration would be for nothing! –Not only that but I was worried that if he suddenly remembered what I told him tonight when he was much older and surrounded by really smart people... then he would be mocked and humiliated! He probably wouldn't care but I would.<p>

As the day reached a close, myself and Luffy were preparing for our bath- the water was perfect and ready to be used, a fresh pair of clothes were set for the both of us and our towels were at the ready. I will admit… I did feel awful but I was willing to do anything to get Luffy in this bath with me.

I jumped in the barrel, whilst Luffy sat on his usual little stool, with the bucket just hovering above his head. He cowered again and I waited…

I smiled and decided it was time just as he was about to pour the water over his head. "Hey- I found out something really interesting today."

Luffy, although a little confused, was very happy to prolong his suffering, his face questioned Ace as he looked at him with some wonder and amazement, even though Ace had yet to tell him what he had 'heard'.

"Well, apparently, when two people with black hair share a bath, they are ninety five percent more likely to fall in love when they're older." That sounded ten times less appealing than when I thought about it before. But love was one thing that always intrigued Luffy, though he _never _knew what it was or completely understood it. When we were in Makino's Bar a few months ago and she put the idea of us being 'lovers' into his head it continued to pop up in conversations, and sometimes in front of others- I admit, it wasn't really the best choice, but damn! I wanted him to share something that I enjoyed and I knew he would as well if he would just suck up his fear and get in this freakin' barrel!

Luffy's mouth dropped open and before I even had the chance to blink water splashed over my face, he was right there in front of me... after all this time, he was _finally _in the tub with me. I could see him panicking a little but he didn't look too bad… he need not worry though, since I was right here before him. I was ready to prove myself to him, I wanted him to be able to trust me the same way lovers did, without actually having the lovers relationship.

"Are we lovers now?" He asked excitedly, _speak of the devil_.

"N-no, not yet…" I said, I was still a little shocked; seriously… it was an incredible moment. "But we will be, one day." I added.

Luffy saddened a little and looked away, messing around with the surface of the water. I felt kind of bad now… I mean, I had no clue what the future had in store for us, and he was really excited about us becoming lovers even though he had no idea what that entailed. I leaned against the side of the barrel and propped my legs up on the other side to hold myself up right.

I wrapped my arms around my little brother and brought him just above my legs and sat him down on them. "I want us to be lovers now though…" He said to me, still a little upset, but certainly enjoying the close attention he was getting from me, I could tell.

I thought about it for a second… and decided, _'hey- why not?' _he was already in the tub… so any kind of annoyance Luffy had to treat me to from now on couldn't be soo bad. "We can't be lovers now because you're not ready and neither am I. If we aren't ready then we can't do anything. When you turn seventeen and I turn twenty, we'll be ready and we can do the 'sacred act' that binds us for life." Maybe that was a bit too much actually… ah well, Luffy would luckily leave it at that and concentrate so much on becoming a pirate that he might even forget about this night.

"Seventeen? But that's ages away!" He almost screamed at me… I hoped to God he wouldn't start crying.

"If you don't talk about it from now on, time will fly by, alright?"

He looked at me in realization and nodded cheerfully "Okay, you promise right? We can do that scared act thingy?"

Well I wasn't planning on doing it with him, but the more I talked about it made me wonder how I really felt about doing it with him, not only that but what did I even think of him? There was no doubt in my mind that he was my brother, and I would care for and love him indefinitely, but life has interesting twists and turns that would wait for the right time to spring up… was this fate? Are we mean't to fall in love? "Yeah, of course." I replied.

Why am I even over thinking this? I'm ten! I'll just let my twenty year old self handle this, for now I'm going to enjoy being a child and retain the innocence that comes with the job.

"Hey Ace…" Luffy said with a cheeky smirk on his face… I was suddenly brought back to reality, with worry seeping into my mind as I gazed upon Luffy's face.. "Our wieners are touching!"

_Well_… maybe I'll come to love it when we bathe together.


	5. I Protect You

_- I Protect You -  
><em>

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><p>I rarely ever take walks through the town, especially alone- I occasionally run into people I've met and talked to about Roger and the whole <em>what if <em>scenario of him having a son. It's very depressing because nobody had anything positive to say, it was always the same answer.

Luffy was the first person who openly expressed his need for me, and that he wanted me to live. Since hearing his answer it is the only thing I need to think about when I feel doubt about my existence, it's provided me with solace, peace of mind and I know now why I must continue living and it's for his sake and to keep a promise to Sabo- I will protect and look after Luffy till my very last breath.

I suppose, since it's almost nightfall that I should be heading back… I just figured a nice walk after such a big dinner would do me some good and since I'm alone it's given me some time to think. I will admit though that it does feel weird not having Luffy tailing me _everywhere _but it seems he headed out somewhere into town just after dinner- I should know, I followed him for a while but lost him in Gray Terminal, I realized today that he can be pretty sneaky, but at least he didn't see me- I'd hate to tell him I'd been following him, I can just imagine what he'd say …

_"Ace loves me! He followed me for a change! …" _And all that…

Anyway, I'm not bothered what he gets up to- I mean, he's still entitled to have a private life no matter how close we are. Well… I don't want to contradict myself, but it _would _have been nice if he told me where he was going… I'd feel some ease then.

As I was heading towards Gray Terminal, I heard some strange noises… almost like chanting. The voices sounded childish and definitely belonged to boys around my age, and there was quite a few of them.

I decided to see what was going on; if it was a brawl then it could provide me with some entertainment before I went home… plus, I was kind of in the mood for fighting as well, so maybe if it got out of hand or they noticed me maybe I could show those kids a thing or two- this definitely sounded like a plan.

I walked past a few shady adults lingering in Gray Terminal and rounded the corner where the loud chanting was coming from. It was strange how none of the adults had bothered to see what was going on… but then again since they were most likely kids, who the hell would care? I mean, one of them must have lost in a game or something trivial like that… if that was the case then it would hardly be worth my time. But you _rarely _ever see kids hanging about in Gray Terminal aside from myself, Luffy and Sabo when he was alive- so this was definitely a sight to behold.

At first I decided to inspect what was going on before jumping into the battle, I stood behind a pile of garbage and debris which was able to hide my presence completely to them, but I was able to see everything that was unfolding in front of me.

I saw a group of four kids, who were roughly my age, maybe a little younger all picking on some kid, I couldn't see who it was since he had been cornered into a heap of garbage which was hiding him from my sight. All this time they had been chanting '_freak' _and _'loser_' continuously and it was really starting to bug me… why didn't that kid just get up and knock them out? They hardly looked tough; anyone could easily take them on in a fight and win, unless they were someone as weak as… as…

_Oh god… _I thought… that's when my mind suddenly panicked, it couldn't be Luffy that they were picking on… could it?

_"I am not weak! You'll see, I can send you all flying with one blow!" _

The kids all laughed amongst themselves and continued trapping him in that small corner, there was still a chance it might not have been Luffy, but then again who was I fooling? There was only one stubborn kid in the whole of the Goa Kingdom with that childish, loud-mouth, bratty voice who couldn't back up any of his threats, who was actually a freak because his devil fruit gave him the ability to stretch his skin and deflect bullets, not only that but he wanted to become a pirate when he couldn't even swim- if that kid wasn't Luffy then I shouldn't be stood here right now- so, basically… it is him.

I didn't want to run to his aid… I'm guessing he had gotten himself into this somehow, someway, and if I ran over to beat those kids up for him, it would emaciate him… and I just didn't want to make him feel any weaker than he already is. You'd think he'd be able to handle a bunch of kids who were considerably weaker than me, those monsters we've fought in the forest and especially the Bluejam pirates… this should've been a breeze!

But when I thought about it more, those kids were being harsh and I mean really harsh… they were really letting him have it verbally, calling him all sorts of names that would make anyone break apart and loose focus in a fight. Plus he'd been backed up into a corner of garbage, they could all easily jump him and he wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight even if he wanted to.

I continued listening to them for a couple of minutes but it was beginning to become unbearable- it was making me break down as well. I knew that if it was Luffy over there, then he was probably crying his eyes out and secretly wishing for me to come to his rescue… let me tell you, _nothing_ and I mean, _nothing _makes me angrier or more protective over my Luffy than something or someone making him cry… especially when this was the reason.

Even if that wasn't Luffy, _and I knew deep down that it was- _there was no way that I was gonna let these kids pick on whoever it was – it's not really my sort of thing to care about anyone other than Luffy- but I would be a true monster if I didn't help out.

I walked out from behind the debris and marched over quickly- as I got closer to the scene my eyes confirmed my worst fears. Yes, it was Luffy and he was crying, he'd been back into the corner and he was sat with his legs pulled up to his chest- he was staring at them menacingly but he wasn't saying anything to them- he was just listening to them laugh at him and continue to pick on him.

One of the kids noticed me walking over and directed the others to look, they didn't seem too afraid at first, they were even laughing at the demonic stare I was giving them- they knew I was coming over to help, it was obvious. I approached the toughest looking one, who was most likely the leader and he in turn approached me.

"Get out of here asshole" He said to me, I wasn't going to let him off easily, not after saying that and definitely not after calling Luffy all that horrible shit. I was hoping that since I had caught all of there attention, that Luffy would get up and run back home- but instead he just got up and came round so he was stood behind my back, lightly holding onto my arm for protection- he was shaking, not so much that the others would notice but once you touched him it was as clear as day.

They all laughed at Luffy's actions, which only made me madder. "Shut up…" I mumbled angrily at first... But as they continued laughing at Luffy, I realized I had to scream it at them- "Shut up!" They went silent and looked at each other worriedly- I had them on the ropes "Get lost before I rip each of your hearts out and feed them to the numerous beasts living in that forest!" A ferocious roar echoed from the forest as they looked over- that had scared them half to deaf, they must've known by now that we lived in that forest and we had easily beaten half of the monsters living within its reaches…. I could only think about the incredible timing that creature decided to roar.

"Oh yeah?" The leader egged me on- I guess I hadn't scared him enough.

"Yeah! And which one of you dimwits has been picking on my little brother then?" I questioned… aside from the leader, the others shook their heads frantically and pointed at the leader. I was trying to assert myself to let them know that I wasn't going to back down, even if this ended in a fight- I would not loose, especially since I had Luffy to protect.

"What of it?" He replied "He's weak and you know- weak kids should _know _their place. There's no way a kid made of rubber is gonna be the pirate king- he'd be lucky to even be a pirate! Besides, he brought this on himself." He replied, he knew how I felt- pissed off and enraged but still he remained tough in front of his weaker friends.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we invited him to play a game with us, right guys?" He turned around and the others now nodded, even more frantically then they shook their heads before. "He lost and couldn't handle it, so then he started threatening us- saying he could take us in all in a fight and you know, that's just uncalled for, we didn't mean to upset your little bro, but he asked for it."

I turned around and saw that Luffy was still slightly upset, but looking a lot better now that I was here- he had even stopped shaking. "Is that true?" He shook his head… "No! They told me last night that they thought my power was cool and they invited me to play with them today, but when I got here they started bullying me and forced me into that corner- they even hit me a few times!" He showed me a couple of bruises on his arms and legs- that was all I needed to see, I trusted Luffy a hell of a lot more than these losers, I looked back at them menacingly…

The leader backed up slowly- he could tell I was even more pissed than before_… _"Awh, come on dude! We were just joking!" The leader replied after seeing the bruise marks on Luffy's skin. From saying such a thing, it was obvious that Luffy was telling the truth as well… "We didn't realize he was _your_little brother!" It seemed like they had at least heard about me… everyone in town knew I attacked people for their fortune- guess I was getting pretty famous already…

"And if he wasn't would that still make it alright? To go round beating up little kids cause they're different?"

They all shook their heads frantically… hah, this was pretty amusing! There was no way they were gonna attack me now, I could see the fear in their eyes- they were about ready to make a run for it. If I could tackle adults and steal their money within moments then these kids wouldn't stand a chance!

"Touch my brother again and I will have your heads- and stay out of Gray Terminal, this is _my _turf!" I said angrily… within moments they dashed away like bolts of lightning, I knew I wouldn't have to deal with them again and neither would Luffy, thank god. "Come on you, it's getting late." I said- I really was a good big brother wasn't I?

He smirked widely and hugged my arm tightly "Thanks Ace!" He said, I scratched the back of my head and looked away to hide any embarrassment that was showing up on my face. "You're such a pain in the backside, you know that?"

He continued smirking and said, "maybe one day, I can feel that pain in my backside too!" …

I couldn't even comprehend what he had just said to me… "What?" was all I could say… where the _hell _did that come from?

"I mean- maybe one day I can say to you- You're _such a pain in the backside, Ace!_" He laughed uncontrollably from his own crude joke… thank _god _he did not mean the other thing. I breathed a sigh of relief and rolled my eyes… "Right…" I said, I took hold of his hand and started pulling him towards the forest.

"Where we goin?" He asked me, "Home" I said.

From the area of the fight to the edge of the forest, Luffy had remained quiet- I guess he was thinking about what had just happened- I hope he didn't feel guilty or anything. I understand he wanted to make other friends, but half the kids in this kingdom are really horrible and hardly open to making friends with people like us. It's best for him to remain with me, I know I can make him happy if he'd give me a chance.

"I'm real sorry about that Ace- I wanted to fight them but they were being so mean to me that I just couldn't move-" His voice suddenly saddened and that made me stop walking, he was still pretty upset about what those kids had been calling him_. _From what he had said, made me instinctively turn round and hug him tightly, and we remained in our deep embrace for a good few minutes- hopefully no one was watching. "You'll _always _have your big bro to back you up, so don't go thinking your alone, kay? You don't need other friends when you've got me. You're special Luffy; you just don't see it yet." I said to comfort him, it kind of made me smile as well… and I'm not really sure why.

Luffy pulled back a little from the hug and looked up at me… "Am I really that special?" He pondered.

"Well- you're special to me! That's why when I saw you like that I ran over to help you, someone has to look out for you anyway- you're still pretty weak." I mocked, probably wasn't a good time for it, but he knew I was kidding.

He stuck his tongue out at me and I could only smile and pull him back into the hug… _I really do like it when I can protect you.  
><em>

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><p>I'm gonna write a sequel to this chapter- it'll be short but I'm sure you'll like it (: Reviews?<p> 


	6. We Stargaze Together

_- We Stargaze Together -  
>(continuation of previous chapter)<em>

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><p>After that little fight in Gray Terminal, we were now steadily making our way back through the forest. I was still tightly holding on to Luffy's hand, taking the lead in the walk home as it became increasingly harder to navigate through the forest. It wasn't like I didn't know where I was going; it was Luffy I was worried about really- hence me holding his hand. Not only that but the forest was far more dangerous at night compared to what it was like during the day- it was almost child's play to get lost, fall off a cliff, get stuck in a swamp or even be eaten by a beast roaming these woods.<p>

For most of the journey we ended up walking in silence, partially because I needed to listen out for anything suspicious and also because I was feeling a little down. Who knows what might've happened to Luffy if I hadn't shown up back in Gray Terminal- they were dishing out enough insults to make a grown man cry.

Ever since we left Gray Terminal, I've noticed that Luffy has been quieter than usual... and I'm guessing that he's still pretty upset from those bullies before. I thought he was fine when I showed up, but obviously what they said really got to him. I definitely don't want him to be hung up on such trivial matters. But I actually have no idea what to say to my little brother to cheer him up, it's obvious that all I can do now is make things worse... - sigh - if only Sabo was here... Luffy would be laughing his little socks off, Sabo always knew how to cheer him up and make him feel better, Luffy has already told me how much of a nicer brother Sabo was than me, that obviously makes me feel like a shitty brother.

I looked to the tree tops above and noticed that the thick branches covered in the summery leaves were covering the sky, not an inch of light peeked through, even though it was night time- it was what made the forest harder to navigate through, you couldn't even see the stars...

Wait a minute... stars? Hmm... That gave me an idea, one that would hopefully cheer up my little brother and make him forget about today. Walking through the forest with Luffy and me not being able to provide him with some kind of relief was really getting to me. Obviously I'm not the fun, openly loving and caring brother that Sabo was, who was always kind, playful and helpful towards Luffy, but I want my baby brother to know how much he means to me and cheering him up tonight is my number one priority, I am going to prove to him and Sabo that I'm not just some over-protective stick in the mud of a brother.

"Luffy?" I questioned out of the blue, I decided to stop and talk to him about it, obviously he wouldn't say no, and even if he did- unfortunately he didn't have a choice.

He looked at me and smiled softly "What's up niichan?"

"Would you mind if we took a slight detour, I want to show you something... and I think you'll like it..." I smiled confidently... well; I know he'd be amazed by it considering what he's usually like towards things as such. I'm mainly hoping he hadn't already come across it, either accidentally or been shown by Sabo in the past.

Luffy shook his head softly and with that I practically pulled him the rest of he way. It easily took us an extra half hour before we reached our new destination. I wanted it to be a surprise, so before going anywhere near the place, I told Luffy to close his eyes and hop on my back so I could carry him safely. "Promise you won't look?" I said.

Luffy nodded excitedly, "Promise!" with a huge grin plastered across his face, just seeing him smile made me feel all bubbly and warm inside.

I continuously checked on him to make sure he wasn't peeking, as we made our way through the last stretch of forest that was particularly denser than the rest in order to get to this special place I'd been thinking of. The branches covered the only visible path and the floor was littered with roots thicker than my body, if I wasn't careful I'd end up tripping over one of them and send Luffy flying.

As we passed through bushes with thorn-covered branches, I could hear Luffy moaning slightly at the branches hitting and slapping his face. He couldn't exactly defend himself from them and I was doing my best to keep Luffy above my waist and free from the branches that were hitting me harder than him.

We eventually reached our destination, even though we were covered in scratches, leaves and the occasional flies that had gotten lost, it was well worth the struggle. I remembered why I loved this place upon seeing it.

I set Luffy down on his feet and reminded him not to look until I told him to. I navigated him on his own across a large grassy field, that surrounding it was the thick forest we had just emerged from. The field was circular and had a large hill smack bang in the middle, which is where we were heading.

"Can I look yet niichan?" He pleaded over and over again, but I eventually started to ignore him and I used my hands to cover his eyes.

There was a particular thing I wanted him to see before anything else that was around us and I wasn't going to let him spoil  
>it for himself, this was my way of cheering him up... I was still hoping he would be amazed by it... but of course, I just needed to remember that Luffy was extremely gullible, I could easily tell a lie and it would make him so much more interested.<p>

As we walked up the fairly steep hill, the horizon slowly came into my sight and just beneath it was the ocean we would one day set sail on, leading us to new and exotic destinations, friends and treasures beyond our imaginations. It was slightly sad to think about the day we would part ways in order to pursue our dreams.

"Aceee~" He moaned again... jeez, this kid was not patient at all!

"Hang on, we're almost there..." I said eagerly, it wasn't long before we reached the top of the hill, and by now you could see most of the Goa Kingdom, along with Gray Terminal where we had just been and Mt Corvo, where we should be right now- Dadan must be freaking out! Ah well, I didn't really care what the old hag thought, I was doing this to make Luffy feel better, and as I said before, it was top priority.

"Okay Luffy, we're here now but you _can't _open your eyes yet, okay?" Luffy nodded in compliance, "Now, I want you to lie down on your back and relax as much as possible."

I could feel Luffy's face scrunch together in confusion, I'm pretty much just hoping he doesn't think we're going to do _that _tonight instead of what I originally have planned. I have to admit, what I was telling him to do was not helping. Ahh- I'm worrying too much again... I really need to stop over thinking these things when it comes to Luffy!

...

"Ne, Niichan? Are we gonna do that sacred act thingy?" I noticed him smirk slightly... damn, so close! It's like he waits for the right moment and BAM, he just says something like _that _without even realizing what it really means, making me feel really awkward because then I involuntarily imagine it happening and it's kind of weird and surprisingly interesting.. I just wish he'd stop talking about relationships, love and sex with me altogether.

However, I didn't really want to dignify his question with much of a response, so I simply said "No." as I lay on the floor next to him, still covering his eyes.

"Are you ready?" Or maybe it's just me... maybe I don't realize what I keep saying half the time and it's the sole reason I end up in these situations.

After seeing and feeling him nod up and down a couple of times, I slowly removed my hands and waited for him to open his eyes... his eyes immediately sprung open and widened to their fullest extent in ore and utter fascination as he was met with billions of dazzling stars in the sky, each one glowing brightly and lighting up our secret little spot.

His mouth practically hung open as he inspected the night sky, his gasps and facial expression were enough to let me know that he was pleased. We had the clearest and most open view of the night sky, it was pure and free from any kind of light that we might see in the city or back on Mt Corvo, it was just wonderful and peaceful. There was a slight breeze but it was still oddly warm and fresh, so there was no need for huddling or anything intimate as such to keep ourselves warm.

"Ace..." Luffy finally spoke after a good few minutes of staring up in fascination, "there are so many stars!" he continued to smile in wonder and gaze lovingly into the night sky.

I smiled, "yeah, it's amazing isn't it? Someday we'll be up there too."

Luffy looked over at me, confused as always, "Huh? How will we get up there? ..."

"Well... we physically can't, but once we die our souls will leave our bodies and continue living in the sky... watching over the world." I wasn't too sure if that was true, but Garp had told me quite a lot about the stars.

"Really?" He gasped again, looking back up at the sky, "So Sabo is watching us right now?" He smiled happily, I hadn't given that a thought until now, but just thinking like that made me feel somewhat happier..

"Yeah, I guess he is..." I too looked back up at the sky and hoped that Sabo was staring right back at us, smiling. I noticed Luffy wave crazily at the sky and shout, "Hey Sabo! We miss you!"

I could see that he was feeling a lot better compared to before, he was smiling much more naturally and freely and I felt great relief that I'd made my little brother feel a lot better, even though I'd given him such a touching speech back in Gray Terminal... I was kind of upset that he hadn't really paid attention to it, knowing him he's probably forgotten all about it... crap, I'm over thinking again...

I failed to notice Luffy snuggle closer to me whilst I was busy arguing with my own mind. My arms were spread out on either side and he took advantage of that and rested his head on one of my arms and lay the rest of his body extremely close to mine. I didn't mind the sudden intrusion; in fact it was rather comfortable and if it made him happy, then this would have to do... although I was getting a little sweaty from the extra heat, I'd already mentioned there was no need to huddle close together to keep warm; it was right in the middle of summer!

I didn't want to tell him to back off though, he was enjoying my company and admittedly I was enjoying his, I don't think anything could ruin this moment...

"Ne... Aceee?~" Luffy spoke up out of the blue. We'd been silent for a couple of minutes now and I was wondering who would talk first. "I was just wondering..."

That was a bad sign...

"What is this... sacred act thing you promised you'd do with me when we got older?"

I rolled my eyes... not this again, "if you don't know what it is then why did you think we we're going to do it before?" I questioned.

"It..." He started, but after which remained speechless for a good few minutes, I could see him thinking about it, it was written all over his face. "It- it felt kind of special and exciting, that moment. I thought that sacred act thing had that kind of feeling to it as well..."

Well he wasn't wrong, but he still didn't really know what it was... I was undecided whether to explain to him or not. If I did then maybe it would put him off and he'd forget about the whole thing, then again it may tempt him more to try it now and I _really _didn't want that... I was probably just as confused as he was! "Well... yeah, it is special and very exciting; especially if you do it with someone you have deep feelings for and really care about." I simply explained, well... to be fair, it was probably better he hear it off me than some pervert or weirdo when he's older. I think I'd come to the decision to tell him but discreetly... even if I really didn't want to tell him, I guess I had no choice, I was teaching him about everything else in life, this was a part of life too.

"Is that when you love someone? And other people see you as lovers?"

"Yeah, when you find someone you love and perform this act for the first time, your partner takes your innocence and keeps it, so they can forever say that you belong to them. Some people however, do it because it doesn't mean anything for them, it's just an act."

"Wow..." Luffy replied, utterly amazed, I hadn't even gotten to the good part yet... I simply nodded...

"So... if we did it, would you take my innocence?" Luffy replied.

I decided not to over think this question, like I had with all the other awkward questions he had asked... But the images of us performing this act continued to pop into my head and it was becoming increasingly harder to keep my cool. "Assuming you hadn't done it with anyone else, then yeah I would and you would forever belong to me." I smirked teasingly, but he didn't seem to mind, he just seemed more excited, which probably wasn't good...

I once again saw Luffy's overly determined face... "That settles it! I'm not going to do it with anyone until I find someone I love and who loves me back" He turned and faced me... hinting at something.

I simply nodded and ignored the fact that he was hinting for me to take his innocence away... "Good luck with that, some people end up waiting for decades before they find that special someone." I pretended not to care as much, as though I wasn't his special someone or I wasn't interested in being with him, hopefully he'd forget about the whole thing.

He saddened a little and looked away... once again I'd managed to upset and deter my little brother from his ambitions... I had to fix this. "But it's not uncommon for people to find that their special someone has been right next to them all along..."

Luffy quickly turned and faced me again, with an even bigger grin on his face... "You're right next to me Ace!"

I quickly got up from the grass and shouted "No I'm not!" I decided that this kind of situation was enough for Luffy to forget about our previous conversation... plus, I was kind of in the mood for some fun and a harmless game of tag wouldn't hurt. I ran away from him, but I couldn't go very far without tumbling down the steep hill. Luffy had quickly caught on and was chasing after me, we were going round in circles until he decided to trick me and go the other way. We ended up running into each other and collapsing, which led to us tumbling down the hill together.

Once we reached the bottom, I realized we were in yet another awkward situation... I raised myself up so that I was still on the floor, but holding my body up with my knees and hands. Somehow, Luffy had managed to tangle his legs around my waist whilst the rest of him lay beneath me. Once I fully realized what was going on, I ended up blushing and looking away from embarrassment, I couldn't exactly stand up either, Luffy had me trapped. "Okay... you got me" I admitted.

Luffy smirked widely but still didn't let me go... He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled himself up, I thought for sure he was going to try and kiss me on the lips, but he instead whispered into my ear _"Aceee is going to take my innocence!"_which he ended up singing.

My eyes almost widened in fear and realization... the idea was starting to grow on me... and I knew that if Luffy kept this up, then there was a definite chance it was going to happen... might as well go along with it!

"Yeah I am!" I smirked playfully and hugged him in return; I really did love my little brother.

... I eventually realized that we hadn't really paid much attention to the stars, but without them then we wouldn't have ended up here.

Even so, I liked it when we were stargazing together... even if for a short period of time, we still have many years ahead of us!

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><p>In case you haven't seen yet, I've decided to start taking ideas for stories- obviously they'll be written by me, but you'll be credited for the idea in the chapter. I have loads of ideas already, but I want to see what you guys come up with :) For now though, I am only accepting ideas for their younger selves (Luffy seven and Ace ten), plus the ideas can't be explicitly sexual or graphic, but this chapters level of graphic is accepted.<p>

Thanks for reading, take care and remember to review! :D

Love youu guys! ox


	7. We Make Up

_- When We Make Up -_

This one is quite long guys ^^

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><p>I've witnessed many arguments in my ten years. Even as a child I was always able to understand when something was wrong between two or more people. The atmosphere would suddenly change, becoming hostile and even frightening at times.<p>

I'm so lucky to have such a strong relationship with Luffy, purely because we _never _argue. Well, I can't say never- we've had our tiffs and fall outs, but it's never been anything serious compared to the arguments I see around town. I will admit however, that most of the times we fall out, it's because of _me_.

It's definitely hard to maintain a balanced relationship between me and someone like Luffy, who grinds my gears to no end each and every day. Hell, I love him to pieces, but keeping my cool around someone so clumsy, reckless and above all else- a complete idiot is so difficult… I seriously feel like we're overdue for an argument.

After Sabo's death, we had a few… well, disagreements, all the time. I wouldn't call them arguments, because most of the time we were completely fine after each one. Again, these disagreements all spouted from me. He was always talking about how much nicer Sabo was to him, he would whine and cry about his death and I just couldn't keep my head. If Luffy was going to be a pirate, he needed to understand that death was inevitable.

I was also kind of jealous of how much he adored Sabo; even after his passing- do I really need to explain why?

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><p><strong>Moving on…<strong>

It's been a few weeks since we've had any kind of disagreement and with Shanks coming back into town, I can feel one brewing. I'm on edge, I know either one of them is going to make me snap.

Myself and Luffy were making our way down to Windmill village on the morning of Shank's return. Luffy was rushing off ahead, whilst I was taking my time, easing down the hill. I was in no hurry to see this… this… Shanks guy, who had saved Luffy _once_, whilst I had saved him many times, do I get a thanks? … Didn't think so.

I didn't even realize that I had started grinding my teeth as Luffy finally decided to walk next to me, only to tell me even _more_interestingthings about this red-haired menace. "Yeah yeah…" I would simply repeat, knowing that he would only want me to agree with him anyway. This was one of the days where I would have to block out everything Luffy had to say to me, but it was in both our best interests- if I listened to him any further I would probably end up doing something that I would regret.

"Oooh! Did you know that Shanks could do that? Isn't it awesome? I didn't think anyone in the world could do something that cool!" He explained, I continued to drop in and out of the conversation, nodding along with whatever he had to say.

"I can't wait to see Shanks! I hope he tells me about all his adventures and shows me any new things he's learned…" He continued to talk; I decided it was about time to do something.

"Listen… Luffy," I began, although he wasn't really paying much attention to me, in fact it actually seemed like he wasn't paying much attention to himself, he was just spouting whatever nonsense was inside his head and spewing it forth. "Luffy…" I persisted and yet he still ignored me, I didn't want to have to do this but he left me no choice. "_**Luffy!" **_I partially screamed at him, he suddenly shut up and turned to look at me, a little confused.

"What's wrong Ace?" He asked me ever so sweetly, it almost made me feel bad for shouting at him.

"Can we just _not _talk about Shanks for a while? You're only making it worse for yourself."

"Huh?" He replied, not really understanding what I was getting at.

I sighed and rubbed the bridge of my nose, great… I was starting to get a headache. "Look, I understand you like this guy, _a lot_, but the more you talk about him, the less excited you'll be when you finally see him."

"Oh! Don't worry Ace, I'll be excited plenty enough for the both of us!" He smirked widely, "I especially can't wait for him to meet you!"

"Really?" I replied, so it looks like I wasn't completely sold out for the day.

Luffy nodded eccentrically, "the last time we were together, I was alone and didn't know you- so he'll be really happy to meet the person who makes me really happy." His smile widened, I couldn't help but let a smile creep onto my face.

"You fool..." I replied to hide my embarrassment, Luffy could only smirk in defeat.

As we neared the town, it was clear to tell that Shanks had already arrived, the townspeople had gathered around the dock, where Shank's ship currently rested. It was unclear as to why he had returned on such short notice, but it didn't seem like anybody was too bothered with the reason why, they were just happy to see him. The people cheered as Shanks and his crew de-boarded their ship, waving, smiling, cheering… it made me feel somewhat sick- don't tell me they were big headed as well… letting all this popularity go to their heads, Windmill Village is _tiny _compared to the entire world!

Luffy rushed on ahead of me again, probably hoping that I would follow- well, I just took my time walking over. Unsurprisingly, like most pirates- they headed towards the nearest place they could see that had alcohol and food, which happened to be Party's bar.

I made my way over at the same pace I'd been taking for the past hour. By the time I reached the bar, everyone was gathered inside, surrounding Shanks and the other notable members of his crew. It took me a while to see Luffy, considering the amount of people taking up every inch of space inside the bar. I don't really know why I spent the time trying to look for him, because as it turned out- he was sat right next to Shanks by the bar.

I didn't really want to go over- but then again, Luffy would probably hate me for not meeting him, in fact he's probably telling Shanks about me right now!

I pushed my way through the hoards of people, squeezing between their legs and occasionally shoving people out of the way in order to get to the bar. This has to be the busiest it's ever been! What do these people see in this guy? He's just a drunk with a good swing.

I eventually found myself next to Luffy at the bar, surprisingly, he was happy to see me. He turned around on the stool and smirked widely, "Ace! Where have you been? I've been dying to introduce you to Shanks!" He cheered.

Luffy jumped off the stool and patted the top, expecting me to take his place. "It's okay, you can sit there." I added, I didn't really want to sit next to Luffy's new boyfriend anyway, what if I wanted to make a quick escape?

"We can both sit down; I'll just sit on your knee!" He smiled cheekily; did he just say he would _sit on my knee_?

"Hnn" I replied, not really caring too much at this point about the seating arrangement, I was just hoping this day would be over in the blink of an eye and Shanks would be on his way.

I jumped up on to the bar stool and helped Luffy up onto my lap, sadly- I was directly facing Shanks, who thankfully was a little preoccupied for now, although that didn't last for long. He eventually turned to face us, he smirk was pretty irritating.

"So Luffy, this is your friend you wanted me to meet?" He asked inquisitively.

"Nooo Shanks! He's my brother and eventual lover," Luffy said smiling sweetly, oh jeez… did he really just say that to an adult like Shanks?

Shank's expression changed, he was still obviously happy, but he was a little confused at the same time. "You two aren't _actually _brothers though right? I mean, by blood?"

We both shook our heads vigorously, "we drank sake together…" I replied almost instantly to straighten out that misinterpretation. I knew incest was frowned upon, even though we were innocent children, it was still considered taboo.

"So we're brothers by bond!" Luffy added.

"Ohhhh…" Shanks said, finally understanding, "So that's how you became brothers? That's pretty cute…" He smiled widely, ruffling my hair in the process- it only agitated me further, was he patronizing me?

"And eventual lovers?" His smile turned freakishly perverted, "how on earth did you come to that conclusion?"

"Well…" I began, but annoyingly enough, Luffy had interrupted me before I even had a chance to explain the correct side of the story, I was planning on beating around the bush with my explanation and making up a bunch of crap that would make Luffy happy and Shanks hopefully drop the subject.

"-Makino thought we might've been lovers because we were holding hands in a special way..." Luffy said, I had hoped he would leave it at that, but by the look on Shank's face, he was expecting a little more detail, looks like Luffy wasn't as stupid as everyone believed, he was able to understand _some _facial expressions... "Ace said we could do all these amazing things when we get older, like getting married and have kids together, isn't that great?" He exclaimed, when the hell did I say all that stuff? I only told him that marriage was for grown ups and... Oh wait, he doesn't know that guys can't have kids... well, that's probably my fault then... that's enough anyway Luffy, Shanks doesn't need to know anything else…

"And he said we can do the sacred act thingy that will bind us for life!" He added, just hearing that made my eyes widen to the point where they were almost popping out of their sockets, _**what the hell was Luffy thinking? **_Telling someone like _Shanks _something like _that_!

"The sacred act?" Shanks replied, thinking about it for a moment, although it didn't take him too long to realize what it truly meant, he was a pirate after all- he was doing this act regularly. "You couldn't possibly mean…" Shank's smile widened to a huge, even more perverted grin, directly aimed at me. "Ace, you rascal."

Why was he making it sound like this was all my idea? Like I had somehow forced Luffy into having sex with my when we're older… I was really starting to hate this guy. Luffy then turned to smile at me, innocently of course, "he's going to take my innocence and I'll forever belong to him…" He leaned his head on my shoulder and sighed peacefully, as though he was already deeply in love with me.

Shanks laughed in his usual way, this situation was just getting worse and my cheeks continued to burn with embarrassment, damn... in front of sooo many people as well! "Luffy's only eight years old and he's already found himself a husband!" He continued to laugh, along with his pirate buddies who had overheard the conversation- I genuinely wanted to not exist at that point, why was everybody laughing so hard?

Luffy was the only one in the bar who wasn't laughing, but he was too busy falling in love with me to think about anything else, hell he thought all of this mumbo jumbo was actually going to happen! I mean… yeah, I've made some promises and as harsh as it may sound, I'm hoping he'll just forget about them over time- he needs to start focusing on training soon anyway if he's gonna survive out there in the world… without me. But the more he talks about it, the more my mind considers it… If we were together in such a relationship, it would give me a reason to stay by his side, right?

For now though, the laughter was driving me crazy; I couldn't take any more of their perpetual annoying laughs... It was like they were mocking me or patronizing me in the least. I still wasn't sure about what the big deal was, or why it was soo funny… I guess I'll never understand adults until I finally become one myself. As time went by I couldn't stand to stay in the bar any longer, they continued to talk about mine and Luffy's _future _relationship, making fun of _me _more than him. I abruptly pushed Luffy off my knee and ran out of the bar, heading back towards Mt. Corvo without looking back.

I don't know exactly what Luffy did after I left, or how he felt about my sudden departure- but he was soon chasing after me, and for a moment I felt a little sympathy for him- knowing he would never catch up to me, what if I had really hurt his feelings or upset him? But now that I had some time to think, since I didn't have any annoying laugher filling my ears, I realized that he couldn't be upset with me about anything but my sudden exit… then again, Luffy was the type of person who got so easily upset over nothing… and then when it came to death he would turn into a mindless zombie who could only think about crying… this situation could turn ugly.

"Aceeeee~" He called out to me. After a while of being chased, I decided to slow down enough for him to catch up and at that point I'd decided to stop entirely.

"Why'd you leave me Ace?" He asked innocently, I wasn't really in the mood for his stupidity or innocence today… I just wanted to go home and forget about Shanks ever coming into town, or knowing anything about mine and Luffy's future. If Luffy wasn't careful with what he had to say, he'd really get an earful off me…

"Because…" I paused, there wasn't really anything I could come up with without hurting Luffy's feelings- I guess honesty was all I could use at this time. "Shanks was annoying me"

"Annoying you?"

"The guy's a moron! He just laughs and drinks all the time, what kind of pirate life is that?"

"He is _not _a moron!" He screamed at me, "He's my friend and I hope to be like him one day, or even better than him!"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, I was expecting Luffy to give a huge speech about how great Shanks was and how the life he had was obviously glamorous. "Right…" I sighed afterwards, empathising with him a little. "I know there aren't many kids in town and the kids in Gray Terminal are idiots, but I don't think it's a good idea for you to be telling adults likeShanks the kind of things we talk about in private." I said.

"You mean like the lovers thing?"

"Yeah, Luffy- It's supposed to be between me and you- Shanks was pretty much just mocking us and you didn't even realize."

"Shanks wasn't mocking us! That's just how he reacts to good news! He loves laughing!" He retorted; I could sense a hint of rage building up in his voice, like he was protecting Shanks from my verbal abuse, what was seriously so good about this guy that I wasn't seeing, but the entire town was?

"It doesn't matter anyway, everything you've told him was supposed to be a secret, between _me _and _you_. He's an adult Luffy, he interprets things like that differently, he doesn't think like a kid! What if he remembers the things we've told him today when we're grown up and he reminds us about it? We're gonna be pretty embarrassed aren't we? You're telling Shanks all this is gonna happen when it probably won't! You're lying to him!" I exclaimed, I hadn't realized that our argument was starting to attract attention.

"But…" He added, sniffling a little and gripping the edges of his hat tightly, it was clear that I was upsetting him but I just couldn't stop yelling at him, by the second my voice got louder and angrier and tears rolled down his cheeks. "-Shanks understands! He is like us! He's a pirate and we want to be pirates too! He knows we want to be together like that in the future and he doesn't care, so long as we're happy… we're not lying to him at all." He sniffed a little louder, "I thought you wanted us to be together as lovers in the future…"

"**No**, Luffy, you've gone too far this time. I expected you to keep this to yourself because you were so happy about it happening in the future… I just want you to stop telling people that we're going to be lovers, because it's _not _happening Luffy, you need to stop this charade and move on. We're _just _brothers."

With that said- Luffy burst into tears and ran back towards the bar, I realized then that the whole town had heard our argument and to save myself from any more embarrassment, I ran away.

* * *

><p><strong>Ten Days Later<strong>

It was getting to the point where I could no longer stay away, from both the hideout I had built with my brothers and my original home with the bandits. I had actually ran away after the argument with Luffy back in Windmill village, but I hadn't gone too far away from home. I hadn't the slightest idea what had happened to Luffy after I left, but I'm guessing he's probably at the hideout, waiting for me to come back.

After making a rather successful kill by myself out in the forest, I returned back to the old shack where Dadan and the other bandits lived. I wasn't expecting all of them, including Dadan herself, to be sat outside waiting for me to return… I couldn't help but smirk knowing how much trouble I would be in for running away- she hated having to deal with Garp when something happened to either me or Luffy.

I jumped out of the trees, pulling my rather large kill with me, Magra and Dogra we're very happy to see me, although Dadan remained emotionless, as always.

"Aceee!~" Magra cried out as he ran up to greet me with a touching hug, "now, now, where the hell have you been? We've been worried sick!"

Dadan and Dogra then walked up to me as well. I expected them to be going berserk at me for being gone for over a week, but if Garp had shown up during the time I had been gone, they would've been in deep trouble, even more than I could be right now.

"Well, at least one of them has shown up," Magra said, as though he was relieved about something.

"Yeah- that's good enough for me." Dadan added.

One of them? "What do you mean by that?" I asked, I had a feeling I knew where this was going…

"Luffy's missing as well…" Magra said, sounding pretty worried. "He never came back after seeing Shanks last week."

Dadan shrugged her shoulders, "he'll turn up eventually- let's just hope Garp doesn't show up in the meantime." She said as she walked back inside the shack. Dogra and Magra soon followed her back inside, dragging my kill with them. I on the other hand, was left outside- shock still overwhelming all my other emotions… It took a while for me to fully comprehend what was going on…

_**Luffy was missing.**_

This wasn't like when we first met, when I didn't give a crap about what might have happened to him… I _needed _him now and he so obviously needed me… what the hell have I done?

Without giving much thought as to where he might be, I quickly made my way back into the forest, searching every nook and cranny for him. I checked out every ditch, every swamp, even in the tree tops and after hours of searching I wasn't able to find him, or come up with any leads.

I stopped and decided to think this one through… it was obvious that I was never gonna find him if I just rushed around the woods aimlessly. The best place to check first was Windmill village… I just hoped Shanks had left town.

I quickly rushed down to Windmill village. Once within the town limits; I could see that Shank's ship was no longer at the bay, which meant he had thankfully left the island. I checked around town, asking many of the locals if they had seen him within the past week or so, but none of them had seen him since Shanks first arrived in the town ten days ago.

I checked Partys Bar, as Makino was a good friend of Luffy's, so it was likely that he had been with her all this time. As per usual, Makino was cleaning up and serving drinks by the bar. Since I couldn't already see Luffy once I was inside, I figured he might not have been here after all… so instead of appearing panicked and worried, I decided to ask as though nothing was wrong.

"Makino-san?"

"Hm? Oh! Ace-kun!" Makino replied, cheerful as always. "How can I help you?" She asked politely.

"Well, I was wondering if you had seen Luffy?" I didn't make myself comfortable at the bar; I knew I wouldn't need to stay too long; I didn't really have time since the sun was beginning to set and as soon as it goes dark, it would be much harder to find Luffy if he was somewhere on Mt Corvo.

"No I haven't, not since last week when Shanks was here, is something wrong? He was very upset after you left last week…" She replied, sounding very worried.

"It's okay, we sorted that out. We were hunting together before, but he just decided to wander off on me…" I replied, I really desperately wanted to find Luffy and apologize. Above all else though, I wanted to find him alive- I don't care if he hates me for the rest of his life, knowing he's alive is good enough for me.

"Ahaha," she smiled, all her worries now thankfully lifted, "that's Luffy for you! If I come across him I'll let him know you're looking for him."

"Thanks Makino-san, I best keep looking then." I smiled calmly, hoping she hadn't seen through my lie, because underneath this calm, sophisticated face was a worrying big brother who was on the verge of a break down if he didn't find the single most important person in his life.

I really hate myself, why the hell did I scream at him like that and say all that stupid stuff? Was I really that angry at him? He was just being innocent and carefree, as always- and yet I was jus too jealous of his nature to even try to understand his true feelings, god I hate myself.

I made my way back up the main path to the top of Mt. Corvo, I know Luffy would also take this path if he was heading back to the bandits house, at least this way I can also visit the hideout just to make sure he hasn't been there for the past ten days.

I had already decided that as soon as I find Luffy I'm going to apologise and give him a little… well, I could say treat, or surprise, just to make up for all the horrible things I said- I know he'll be very pleased with it.

As the sun quickly set on the mountains, it became much harder to see and although I wanted to keep my presence concealed in case there were any animals lurking nearby, I had to find Luffy no matter what. "_Luffy!" _I shouted at the top of my lungs.

I can't believe all this was happening, and all because of a meaningless argument!

_"Luffy!" _

I continued to pace my way through the woods, calling out his name over and over again… but as time went by and the night grew colder, darker and kind of scarier, I was starting to grow tired and I couldn't help but shut my eyes every once in a while.

Luckily, pinching myself whenever I got the urge to fall asleep was enough to keep me going a few more minutes each time. _"Luffyyyy!" _I cried out again, there was no way I was going to give up on finding him, even if it took days, weeks, months, the rest of my life- I _will _find him.

"Ace-suuuu?"

I recognized that innocent cry anywhere… "Luffy?" I called out once more, stopping in my tracks and looking around frantically. I wasn't anywhere near the hideout, so it was clear to me that he hadn't been hiding out there, which meant he's been outside… hopefully not for over a week. "Where are you?" I added.

"Oh-over heree…"

I followed the sound of his voice and found myself at the edge of a gully, with a small stream running through it. The gully itself was quite steep and covered in massive rocks, trunks and rubbish that had been chucked into it by the townspeople. At the very bottom was Luffy, who was covered in scratches and bruises and by the looks of it, had seriously injured his leg. "Luffy!" I cried out in immediate shock, I quickly hurried to the bottom of the slope, without causing any injury to myself and was by his side instantly, comforting him- my worries quickly vanished, but some remained present.

"Ace-suuu…" He smiled peacefully, he looked, -more than anything else in the world- happy to see me. I quickly pulled him up onto my lap and comforted him.

"Are you okay? Have you broken anything?" I was still panicking, even though I had luckily managed to find him. I must calm down…

"I'm hungryyyy~" He whined, yeah… he was fine. "And I _think_ my leg is broken…" He added, like it was no big deal.

"Your leg can't be broken, you're made of rubber you fool... I guess you're alright then..." I paused, wondering something else, I probably shouldn't bombard him with questions, but I was really keen to know. "How long have you been down here?"

"I dunno, I think since we… fell out…" He saddened crap- I needed to apologize… this was gonna be a tough one.

"Listen Luffy… I'm really, really, sorry about what I said; I was just… having a bad day. I didn't mean any of it. "

Luffy looked up at me from my lap, smiling like he usually did. "It's okay Ace, I should've kept what we talked about a secret, it would be special because nobody knows about it, except us."

I smiled comfortingly. It was then that I leaned down slightly and kissed my younger brother gently on the forehead for the first time. That was the little treat I had planned for him, I knew it would make him happy. Luffy blushed a beautiful shade of pink and smirked, "Ace loves me too~" I pulled Luffy up to give him a tight and loving hug, I was so happy to have found my brother. "Ace?" Luffy said after a few minutes of silence, although it had been a very comforting silence and I was now able to relax and sleep very peacefully tonight with my brother by my side.

"Yes?"

"Can we not fight anymore? I hate it when we're not together and happy…"

"Of course- without you, my life is meaningless."

Luffy pulled back from the hug, but my arms remained wrapped around his waist. "I also take back what I said, about us becoming lovers, whatever happens- happens, and we can't control that." I smiled.

I gave Luffy a quick Eskimo kiss and proceeded to pull him up onto my back and take him back home. It was going to be a pain getting up that hill, even so- I was just happy to be re-united with little brother.

"When I went back to the bar after our fight, Shanks said that you might be my soul-mate, what does that mean?"

I quickly in defeat, he was never gonna let this lovers thing go, was he? Although he might cause me a lot of trouble, I was just happy to be reunited and on peaceful terms with my little brother.

I _like _it when we make up, Luffy... lets never fight again!


End file.
